IT IS ALWAYS difficult to make judgements on the first day of the SSE Airtricity League season as it will take teams five, six or even seven games to hit top gear.
I always found myself that fitness and sharpness don’t come for a few weeks.
Looking at the weekend’s games, the size of the crowd at Turner’s Cross is one thing that caught my eye. To have over 5,000 people there was brilliant. A full house is what I came to expect from playing down there and I used to love it.
A draw with St Patrick’s Athletic seemed a fair result but it’s a really good sign to see a strong Cork performance and hopefully they will continue to make it a difficult place to go this season.
In the Louth derby, Dundalk’s defeat was fairly significant because they looked at sixes and sevens at the back. Their back four seemed to be sitting incredibly deep, almost on top of the goalkeeper.
It’s indicative of a lack of leadership and the manner in which they conceded the goals was disappointing.
I was expecting that to be a very tight game but for Drogheda to run out 4-1 winners is a worrying sign and Dundalk are under pressure very quickly. They did win their Setanta Cup game last night so that is a good reaction, however.
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I did say last week that they wouldn’t challenge for the title but I feel they can maybe be successful in cup competitions.
Talking about lack of leadership, I would be a little worried about Shamrock Rovers. I was surprised at the team that Trevor Croly started with against Derry City because there was a lot of inexperience down the middle and they looked like they didn’t have an organiser on the pitch.
To be fair to Conor Kenna, he has only joined and been named captain. But Croly left the likes of Jason McGuinness, Ronan Finn and Sean O’Connor on the bench for a hugely significant game in which they needed to get off to a good start.
I thought he would have started Stephen McPhail and utilise him at home because the pitch is so big that he could get on the ball and influence the game. It was crying out for him after ten minutes and you can’t underestimate the fact that he is a left-footer.
In saying that, McPhail is only there a couple of weeks and maybe he is trying to introduce him gradually into the league.
Shamrock Rovers' Stephen McPhail with Patrick McEleney of Derry City. Morgan Treacy / INPHO
Morgan Treacy / INPHO / INPHO
They were blessed to get away with a point but the late equaliser could have a positive affect as it will nearly have felt like a win. It’s not a good start and they are going to have to improve hugely for next week. But I feel like something isn’t right there.
Looking at the Setanta Cup results from last night, you would have to seriously worry for the competition’s future.
I think the level of quality between the northern teams and the southern teams is proving to be huge based on the results that we have been seeing.
I would have been huge fan of the competition and and always enjoyed playing in it. At that time, it was much more heavily backed than it is now.
The northern clubs don’t look like they are interested anymore but you can’t be that surprised because they have hardly won it in recent years. The four teams in the semi-finals now tend to be the southern sides and the Irish League teams are losing interest.
Linfield and Cliftonville didn’t bother taking part this year so the signs were there. I’m not quite sure what they will do but they could look at introducing the competition at a different stage of the season to suit the northern clubs or maybe up the prize money.
It is a shame because I always thought there was the potential to have an All-Irish league. It could be a really positive for football in this country but it doesn’t look like happening and you would have to fear for the Setanta Cup beyond this year.
On a sidenote, I thought last night’s Soccer Republic went well. The whole point is that they want to change it and create interest but they will walk before they run and gradually introduce things week-on-week.
I thought the format worked and there were a couple of new entities to the show. You’ve got a decent guest on in Paul McGrath and that is something they are going to try do every week.
Tony McDonnell was on analysis and I’ll be doing that myself in the coming weeks. I enjoyed the interview with Keith Fahey too.
If people want to be constructively critical then do that because I think they will take it on board.
Stuart Byrne column: 'I fear for the Setanta Cup as the northern clubs have lost interest'
IT IS ALWAYS difficult to make judgements on the first day of the SSE Airtricity League season as it will take teams five, six or even seven games to hit top gear.
I always found myself that fitness and sharpness don’t come for a few weeks.
Looking at the weekend’s games, the size of the crowd at Turner’s Cross is one thing that caught my eye. To have over 5,000 people there was brilliant. A full house is what I came to expect from playing down there and I used to love it.
A draw with St Patrick’s Athletic seemed a fair result but it’s a really good sign to see a strong Cork performance and hopefully they will continue to make it a difficult place to go this season.
In the Louth derby, Dundalk’s defeat was fairly significant because they looked at sixes and sevens at the back. Their back four seemed to be sitting incredibly deep, almost on top of the goalkeeper.
It’s indicative of a lack of leadership and the manner in which they conceded the goals was disappointing.
I was expecting that to be a very tight game but for Drogheda to run out 4-1 winners is a worrying sign and Dundalk are under pressure very quickly. They did win their Setanta Cup game last night so that is a good reaction, however.
I did say last week that they wouldn’t challenge for the title but I feel they can maybe be successful in cup competitions.
To be fair to Conor Kenna, he has only joined and been named captain. But Croly left the likes of Jason McGuinness, Ronan Finn and Sean O’Connor on the bench for a hugely significant game in which they needed to get off to a good start.
I thought he would have started Stephen McPhail and utilise him at home because the pitch is so big that he could get on the ball and influence the game. It was crying out for him after ten minutes and you can’t underestimate the fact that he is a left-footer.
In saying that, McPhail is only there a couple of weeks and maybe he is trying to introduce him gradually into the league.
They were blessed to get away with a point but the late equaliser could have a positive affect as it will nearly have felt like a win. It’s not a good start and they are going to have to improve hugely for next week. But I feel like something isn’t right there.
Looking at the Setanta Cup results from last night, you would have to seriously worry for the competition’s future.
I think the level of quality between the northern teams and the southern teams is proving to be huge based on the results that we have been seeing.
I would have been huge fan of the competition and and always enjoyed playing in it. At that time, it was much more heavily backed than it is now.
The northern clubs don’t look like they are interested anymore but you can’t be that surprised because they have hardly won it in recent years. The four teams in the semi-finals now tend to be the southern sides and the Irish League teams are losing interest.
Linfield and Cliftonville didn’t bother taking part this year so the signs were there. I’m not quite sure what they will do but they could look at introducing the competition at a different stage of the season to suit the northern clubs or maybe up the prize money.
On a sidenote, I thought last night’s Soccer Republic went well. The whole point is that they want to change it and create interest but they will walk before they run and gradually introduce things week-on-week.
I thought the format worked and there were a couple of new entities to the show. You’ve got a decent guest on in Paul McGrath and that is something they are going to try do every week.
Tony McDonnell was on analysis and I’ll be doing that myself in the coming weeks. I enjoyed the interview with Keith Fahey too.
If people want to be constructively critical then do that because I think they will take it on board.
What did you make of Soccer Republic’s debut?
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